


Respite

by Ruuger



Series: The Jane/Cho 'verse [3]
Category: The Mentalist
Genre: Community: mentalist_bb, Fainting, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pre-Slash, Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-16
Updated: 2013-02-16
Packaged: 2017-11-29 10:31:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/685934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruuger/pseuds/Ruuger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cho gets Jane down from the attic.  A shameless bit of hurt/comfort, set during early S3.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Respite

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [The Mentalist Big Bang (mini bang)](http://mentalist-bb.livejournal.com/).
> 
> Art by the lovely shadownashira. Go give them feedback [here](shadownashira.livejournal.com/14857.html).

Cho turned off his computer and stood up, stretching his back to loosen the kinks before slipping on his coat and picking up his keys. It was well past eight on a Friday night, and he was the last person left in the dark bullpen. Even Lisbon had already left hours ago, tasking him with the job of checking on Jane before leaving. For a few seconds Cho considered just going home and leaving Jane to his own devices, but he'd promised her he'd do it, and so even though he was tired and hungry, he climbed the stairs up to the attic and knocked on the heavy metal door. 

"Jane? Are you in there?"

There was no answer, and for a moment Cho wondered if Jane had slipped out without him noticing. He was about to turn back and return downstairs when there was a heavy thump from the other side of the door, followed by the sound of something breaking. Cho automatically moved his hand to the handle of his gun, his muscles tensing in anticipation as he pulled the door open. 

"Jane?"

It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room, but when they did, Cho saw Jane sprawled on the floor on his hand and knees, his head bowed as he tried to sit up. There was a broken teacup and a puddle of spilled tea next to him, and papers and folders littered the floor all around him.

Cho quickly scanned the room to make sure that they were alone, then walked to Jane and knelt down next to him. 

"Hey. You okay? What happened, man?" he asked, laying a hand on Jane's shoulder.

"Dizzy," Jane muttered, his head still bowed. "Stood up too fast." 

"Did you hit your head?" Cho asked. When Jane didn't answer, he moved his hand to Jane's chin, and gently but firmly forced Jane to look up so that he could check his eyes. There was just enough light for him to see that Jane's pupils looked equal, but just to be sure, Cho still ran his hand through Jane's hair, checking for bumps or blood. 

"When did you last eat?" Cho asked, and slipped his arm around Jane to help him up. "Or had a shower, for that matter."

"I- I must have missed lunch." Jane looked down, and Cho followed his gaze to the casefiles littering the floor. "I've had a lot of things on my mind." 

Cho helped him sit down on the chair in front of the dusty window. Jane frowned, as if he was only now starting to realise what was happening, and then looked up at Cho.

"Why are you here?"

"Lisbon told me to make sure you go home for the weekend. Security has started to complain." 

"Oh." 

Jane's face was so pale it was almost white, and he was still swaying slightly even though sitting down. Cho put his hand between Jane's shoulder blades and gently guided him forward until his head was between his knees. He waited for a few seconds to make sure Jane wasn't going to fall over and then let go.

"Stay. I'll be right back." 

Taking two stairs at a time, Cho made his way back downstairs to the vending machines in the lobby and picked the first chocolate bar that caught his eye. When he returned to the attic, Jane was already sitting up more straight, though even in the dim light Cho could see that he was still pale. Cho gave him the chocolate bar.

"Here, eat this. I'll drive you home when you can stand again." He crossed his arms, looking at Jane. "Do you even have a home to go to? I mean, in Sacramento?"

Jane shrugged, looking away as he unwrapped the chocolate bar. "I have a motel room I'm renting by the month, but I haven't been there for a while. I've had-"

"-a lot of things on your mind. You told me."

Cho considered his options while waiting for Jane to finish the chocolate. He didn't like the idea of just dropping Jane off in some dingy motel. He knew he could always call Lisbon, who had clearly appointed herself as Jane's surrogate mother, but Jane probably wouldn't want her to see him this vulnerable and would only make himself as insufferable as possible just to avoid her pity. And if Cho disturbed Lisbon's Friday night only to drop a tired and over-defensive Jane on her, he'd be on dumpster duty for the next six months. Which only left one option. He sighed.

"Get your things, you're coming home with me."

Jane gave him a shaky grin. "First you buy me chocolate, and now you're inviting me over for dinner. You're not trying to seduce me, are you, Cho?"

Cho slipped his arm around Jane's shoulder and helped him to his feet. "Shut up, Jane."

* * *

Jane was unusually quiet during the drive, but seemed to magically re-energize when they entered Cho's apartment. He quickly scanned the room, and then beelined to the sidetable that held pictures of Cho's family, leaning down for a closer look. Cho cast him a glare as he locked the door behind them.

"Don't touch anything."

Jane ignored him, and moved onto the bookshelves.

"You can learn much about a person by their bookshelf," he said, running his finger across the spines. He stopped when he reached the leather-bound copy of _Emma_ , and pulled it out to emphasize his words.

Cho thought about the dog-eared Barbara Cartland novels he'd spotted in the pile of books Jane kept at the office, but decided not to make a comment. Instead he just left Jane browsing the bookcase, and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

There were some leftover spaghetti and meatballs in the fridge, and Cho warmed them up, feeling thankful that he'd made enough the night before to still feed two. When he was finished, he returned to the living room to find that Jane had taken off his jacket and shoes, and was curled up on the couch, fast asleep.

He crossed the room and reached down to wake Jane, then hesitated. Jane was exhausted, that much was obvious. Cho knew that he had trouble sleeping in the best of days; whether he'd slept at all during the last few weeks was anyone's guess. For a moment he considered just letting Jane rest for a while longer, but then decided against it. He was willing to bet good money that lunch wasn't the only meal that Jane had skipped, and sleeping with an empty stomach would only make things worse.

Cho knelt down on the floor in front of the couch and gently shook Jane's shoulder. "Hey. Jane, get up."

Jane jerked awake, flinching away from Cho's touch and pressing into the cushions, but recovered quickly.

"I'm awake," he said, his voice slightly hoarse.

Cho decided to pretend that he hadn't seen that flash of naked fear in Jane's eyes, and stood up. "Dinner's ready," he said, keeping his voice neutral. "You can sleep later."

Jane smiled, or at least tried to, then sat up, stretching his back, his usual mask of indifference firmly in place again. 

"Lead the way," he said, and followed Cho into the kitchen.

* * *

They ate the dinner in silence, with Jane focusing his attention on the food in front of him, and Cho watching Jane. There was a folded copy of the morning paper on the table, and Jane pulled it closer to him, and then stared at the front page.

"It's Friday," he said slowly, as if trying to figure out the solution to some complex problem. He looked up. "I thought you and Rigsby went to the gym together on Fridays?"

"We cancelled this week. Rigsby's got a date with his new girlfriend."

Jane frowned. "Rigsby has a new girlfriend?"

Cho stared at him. "Man, you really are out of touch."

Of course, that was an understatement. Jane wasn't so much out of touch as he was completely closed up, hiding in the attic when he wasn't actively working on a case with the team. Jane's mental health had been a question mark for as long as Cho had known him, but ever since Kristina's disappearance, things had been even worse, if possible. Gone was the smiling, mischievous Jane who did magic tricks in the bullpen, in his place nothing but an empty husk of a man. Cho had met soldiers with PTSD back in the Special Forces, and some days Jane had that same thousand yard stare that he'd seen in the eyes of those men. Red John had declared a war on them, and Jane was one of the casualties.

He leaned back in his chair and looked at Jane. "Are you on any medication?"

Jane looked up from his plate and met Cho's eyes, a small smile playing on his lips. "That's what I like about you, Cho. You go straight to the point without any sugar-coating." He turned his attention back to his food and speared another meatball with his fork. "No, I'm not."

"Should you be?"

Jane let out a humourless laugh, but didn't look up. "I'm not going to see a doctor."

"I don't care what you do."

Jane stilled, and looked at him over the forkful of food. "Yes, you do. You care. You care about me," he said.

Cho automatically began to object, but the words died on his lips at the seriousness of Jane's expression. Jane had caught him in a lie that he hadn't even realised he'd said. Because yes, against his better judgement, he did care, more than he wanted to admit to himself.

"Jane..."

"No, it's okay." Jane shook his head. "I'm sorry."

It was strange hearing Jane apologise at all, even stranger to hear him apologise for something like this, almost like he'd just accidentally revealed some horrible secret of Cho's.

"But really, you shouldn't," Jane continued, a sad smile playing on his lips. "Bad things happen to people who do."

Cho had a flash of memory at his words, of the cat his family used to have when he was small, and his mother telling him not to get too attached to it, that it was old and sick and would die soon. He put down his fork and held Jane's gaze.

"I'm a cop. We all are."

"So was Bosco," Jane countered.

"How hard did you hit your head? Bosco could barely stand you. He wasn't killed because he was too close to you. He was killed because he was too close to Red John."

Jane shrugged again. "Same difference." He looked away briefly before meeting Cho's eyes again. "Bad things happen."

"Not tonight..." 

Jane began to object, but Cho didn't let him.

"...and not here." He stood up and rounded the table. "Tomorrow you can go back into hiding in your attic, and continue pretend that you don't have any friends, but tonight you're staying here. Because I do care about you, whether you want that or not."


End file.
